HAYDEN IS A BOY—Hayden Miller, 2, middle, of St. Paul, drinks a sip of his grandmother Carla Folson’s drink as they wait for their lunch to be made at The Rice St. Deli inside the Reemco Gas Stop off Rice Street in St. Paul on October 15, 2008. Carla Foslon, right and her sister Francine Folson, (not pictured) were regulars at the old restaurant which was located a few blocks away. (Pioneer Press: Sherri LaRose-Chiglo)

The rapper picked up a cheeseburger one recent afternoon — not his first for the week, definitely not his last.

Known as Paperboy in St. Paul’s North End, he navigated around other customers and racks of Coke and Fanta in the tiny Rice Street Deli before popping the top on his foam container. He plucked out a crinkle-cut french fry and explained why he doesn’t eat anywhere else.

“All that other food’s fake,” he said. “Here, they hook it up how you want it.”

“Here” is the former storage room of the Reemco Gas Stop at Rice Street and Maryland Avenue, where neighbors show up between 11 a.m. and whenever cook Jason Tall can close, to eat chicken wings, gyros and fried fish.

Opened in August as a way to draw customers into the gas station, the deli has become such a hotspot, it’s outpacing earnings from the gas station by a factor of at least two, “minimum,” said station manager Moustafa Moustafa.

It’s a seemingly successful cap to a yearslong fight to make the tiny gas station profitable. Moustafa said rising fuel and food prices drove down customer traffic so far that the business was nearly at the breaking point.

“We reached the edge,” he said.

Before the deli, the station owners thought about bringing in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox to attract customers or maybe setting up a car accessory display with rims and seat covers.

The store sold milk at a loss for more than a year, “just to get people to come in,” Moustafa said.

Then came the deli.

Tall, 23, said customers like his spot because they can get whatever they want.

“Anything you can imagine, we can make it for you,” he said.

Take the Gangster Burger, a one-of-a-kind sandwich a brave man ordered recently: two half-pound hamburgers, three six-ounce steaks, a half-pound of gyro meat and a half-pound of Italian beef, topped with six slices of cheese.

“It was like that high,” Tall said, spreading his hands about a foot apart.

And the Gangster Fries — fried potatoes topped with gyro meat, melted cheese and cucumber sauce — a foodstuff best preceded by a couple of beers.

Cars pull up out front and park askew, their chrome rims almost as shiny as their iridescent paint jobs.

People inside are happy to talk but not necessarily eager to give their names.

“I can make one up,” said the man with the pit bull puppy waiting outside. He stopped in for an order of wings and fries.

“Jason’s cool as hell, for real,” he said. “I’d rather come to this small spot than a big magnificent spot.”

Labertha Porter waited on some chicken wings and strips while her 1-year-old twins, Jaiahna and Jaion, squirmed in their double stroller.

“I’ve been here every day since it opened, almost,” she said. “They’re welcoming and friendly, respectful. They treat you like you’re human. They make you feel like you’re a part of things.”

Tall and his brother, Mike Tall, ran a popular deli at Burr Street Market on St. Paul’s East Side until selling it a year ago.

Through family and friends, they heard the guys at Reemco were looking for something to boost business.

The first day of business, the deli was such a hit that the store stayed open until 4 a.m.; it was supposed to close at midnight. Many of the diners followed the Talls from Burr Street.

If the deli’s doing so well, why don’t Reemco’s owners just turn the whole station into a restaurant?

“Because the deli’s going to fix the gas pump, do the paint job, hire more people,” Moustafa said. “The deli’s going to do that.”

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in News

St. Paul Public Schools has established a where anyone can donate money to pay off anonymous students’ overdue lunch accounts. The district said it’s a response to a social media campaign that caused many people to call the district asking how they can give. Families in the district owe nearly $28,000 on school lunches. All district schools provide free breakfasts and most offer...

Weekend snow is on tap for much of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 3 to 6 inches expected in the Twin Cities and more elsewhere. The snow will be followed next week by the season’s first subzero temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, a slow-moving low pressure system will spread snow into western Minnesota on Saturday morning and...

Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis is planning to reduce its workforce by as much as 4 percent next year. The hospital plans to eliminate up to 275 full-time positions to balance the budget and keep the opening of a $220 million ambulatory and outpatient surgery center on schedule for 2018, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The hospital’s workforce...

Two construction companies have agreed to pay a combined $147,500 in fines over safety violations in the death of one worker and injuries to another during construction of the Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium in downtown Minneapolis last year. Berwald Roofing is paying $113,200 for three violations, while Mortenson is paying $34,300 for one violation. The penalties are lower than Minnesota’s...

Larry Stanger, the Inver Grove Heights police chief who has been on paid leave since April while being investigated for alleged wrongdoing, will resign as part of a separation agreement reached between him and the city. The city council is scheduled to consider approving the agreement at its regularly scheduled meeting Monday. City Administrator Joe Lynch and City Attorney Tim...

St. Paul police are investigating a case of possible embezzlement at Town and Country Club. Police were notified of the matter on Monday and an investigator met with representatives of the club, said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. A brief police report indicates the incident of possible embezzlement began in January 2010 and ended Dec. 2. Police are...